Process of extracting volatile products from wood.



F. A. KUMMER. V PROCESS'OF EXTRACTIN G VOLATILE PRODUCTS FROM WOOD APPLICATION FILED APR. 24, 1906. 1

Patented Feb. 21, 1911 UNITE s r FREDERICK A. KUMMER, OF NEV] YDRK, N. Y.

'rnoonss or nx'rnacrmevoLATrLE'rnonUc'rs anon: WOOD.

Application filed April 24,

in a suitable receptacle, heating the bath to the point of distillation of the volatile products andcondensing the said volatile products.

In carrying out the process practically, a suitable retort or receptacle is employed that is liquid-and-vapor-tight and provided with a condensingworm; the rosin oil is placed in the retort, and'the resinous Wood having been out to suitable sizes is placed in the retort and immersed in the rosin oil. Heat is "then. applied to the bath and continued until thedistillation of the volatile products ensues and the turpentine and other condensed vapors pass from the worm and cease.

In the accompanying drawing, which is for the purpose of illustration only, the wood to be treated (B) is placed in the closed liquid-and-vaportight retort (A) arranged to permit the introduction and removal of the contents, and'connected with a condensing coil (E). Rosin oil is introduced (C) sufficientto cover the Wood (B) or the wood may be immersed in the rosin oil; heatis '.applied at (D) and the condensed vapors collected in a receptacle (F). The condensed volatile products or distillate, which separates by gravity from the water distilled during the process, is removed, and separated into turpentine and other products by ordinary methods of distillation.

Rosin oil as a bath for distilling resinous woodsto obtain the volatile products thereof, possesses a combination of the following .gdesirable qualities not found in any bath substance heretofore used for thlSPUlPOSEZ First,it is fluid at ordinary atmospheric temperatures; second, it possesses a boiling temperature higher than that of the products sought to be obtained; third, it has no. con- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 21, 1911.

1908. Serial No. 313,510.

taminating influence upon the volatilized rewill flow hot or cold into the retort, and may thus be utilized to regulate or to etl'ect rapid changes of the temperature of the bath if desired; (0) it does not solidify and cake in the apparatusin case the heat is withdrawn by accident or design.

Second: The bath of rosin oil also possesses the requisite characteristic of a boilmg temperature higher than that of the product which is to be extracted from the wood, whereby the volatile products are driven off in vapors, the bath remaining liquid. In conducting thc operation thev evapo 'ation of the desired products i "ll be secured if thebath is raised to and maintained at a temperature at which such products boil. In practice, the operationmay be hastened by raising the bath to a temperature higher than the boiling temperature of the products provided it be not raised to such a degreeas to cause destructive distillation of the wood. The wood is thus more quickly raised to the required temperature by more rapid absorption of heat from the bath. For example, I have found that a temperature varying from to 350 degrees Fahrenheit may be advantageously used; but my invention is not rest 'icted to the use of the above temperatures, which are cited for illustration only. The rosin oil bath may be heatedby a tire applied directly to the retort, as in the drawing, or by heated pipes in the retort in contact with the bath, or. the bath may be heated outside the retort and introduced into it at'the desired temperature, or any other convenient means of heating may be used. Whatever method of heating is employed, it is necessary that the temperature be kept below the point as a bath, since it is liquid atordinary temperatures, this may be done bylntroducmg cold rosin oil, thereby regulating the temperature of the bath at will.

Third: The products are obtained pure and free from any contamination. Thisresuit is chiefly due .to the fact that the material of the liquid bath (rosin oil) and the products (terpenes) are derived from a common source (resinous wood), and that the liquid bath has no characteristic that is ina compatible with the products.

Fourth: During the process of distilling resinous woods to extract the volatile products, a quantity of rosin naturally exudes fromthe wood in melted form and mingles with the bath material. The advantage of rosin oil in this connection as a bath material over any other material liquid at ordinary temperatures is the format-ionof a simple 'xture, which, by the further application of heat, may be distilled oft asa stance,namely, rosin oil. The original rosin oil of the bath thus recovered, augmented by the rosin oil thus produced from the rosin exuding from the wood, may, if desired, be utilized as the bath for subsequent operations. The bath may be distilled, as above described, in the same retort after removing the wood, or preferably, may be withdrawn and distilled in a separate apparatus. The distillation or removal of the bath is done whenever the rosin exudes to an extentto' render the bath non-liquid at ordinary By maintaining a circulation of the batl1,-keeping a supply of rosin oil flowing into the retort, and withdrawing the mixture of rosin and rosin oil, the proportion of rosin in the mixture may be kept at a minimum, and the bath maintain its V of the quantity of wood, the proportionately proximately equal in volume to the amount character of fluidity at ordinary temperatures.

,lVhile the relative amounts of wood and rosin oil bath are not material to, the theory of my processes, in practice, it is advisable to have a suflicient quantity of rosin oil bath to completely immerse the wood. Quicker results may be obtained if the proportion of rosin oil is in excess of the quantity of wood. If the quantity of rosin oil surrounding the wood is very small, it Will be found that the lar e amount of Wood will quickly absorb the heat of the bath, resulting in a difliculty in maintaining the required temperature of the bath. If, on the other hand,

the amount of rosin oil is greatly in excess small quantity of resultant products would tend to render practically unprofitable an operation in such proportions. In practice,

I preferably use an amount ofrosin oil apof wood, but the relative amounts may be varied at. pleasure.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,-

' The herein-describedprocess of obtaining turpentine and other products from resinous and terebinthine wood, consistinglof immersing the Wood in a bath of rosin oil and heating said bath to a temperature higher than. that at which turpentine boils, and

lower than that at which rosin oil boils, and

collecting and condensing the volatilized product.

- In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

FREDERICK A. KUMMER.

Witnesses G.'O. STROTHER, A. A. HYD 

